Chinese consumers buy more high-end imported products: report

They are buying mobile phones, appliances, and beauty products from international brands.

China’s import business is moving towards high-end and diversified products, as consumers seek health and beauty items and gadgets from international brands, according to a report by JD.com.

The 2022 Import Consumption Trend Report by the company’s Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute found that mobile phones, computers, mother and baby products, beauty and skincare products, and home appliances are the “most favoured” international products by Chinese consumers.

Sales of mobile phones from brands abroad accounted for more than 30% of all imported products in 2022, JD.com said. 

Presales volume of first-party imported healthcare products during JD’s 618 Grand Promotion which ended last month jumped by 140% year-on-year, whilst cross-border food and beverages doubled. It cited big international brands like Apple, Dell, HP, Aptamil, and Simens as well received by consumers.

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JD added that young customers aged between 26 and 25 are the major consumers of imported products, accounting for nearly half of all the age groups. Consumers between 46 and 55 years old, meanwhile, are expected to have a “great potential” in purchasing power, as their spending on imported items jumped by 293% in 2021 compared to 2019.

Gen Z consumers are more willing to buy watches, glasses, jewellery, and digital products from international brands, whilst senior shoppers prefer food, beverages, clothes, and alcoholic products.

The top 5 countries where products are imported from were the US, Japan, France, Germany, and Switzerland, according to the report. It added that many consumers are now buying more products from JD’s national pavilion due to travel restrictions. JD currently has 64 pavilions.

The report also found that shoppers from first and second-tier cities accounted for 55% of the sales of international products in the first half of 2022. But there is a rising interest seen in rural areas, as the transaction volume of international products from rural areas was up 174% in 2021, compared to 2019, according to JD sales data.